


After Midnight

by Steerpike11



Category: Monster Prom (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:21:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29286723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steerpike11/pseuds/Steerpike11
Summary: Oz reflects on a few things during a late night walk and bumps into someone he thought was out of his league.
Relationships: Valerie Oberlin/Yellow | Oz
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	After Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short vignette I wrote in a sitting to work through some of my own issues with impostor syndrome. Not much else to say.

The air was chilly. Oz didn't really feel it though. It wasn't that his jacket was that good, the temperature just didn't really effect him. At all. If it were 10 degrees colder, it would be enough for Brian to practically hibernate. It was snowing, which Amira hated. Vicky, optimist that she was, never really lost her sense of enchantment with winter, but even she had to bundle up too. Oz just sort of dressed the part in winter to keep people from staring at him even more than usual. At this point however, he was doing it out of habit. It was almost midnight and Oz was out for a walk by himself. He enjoyed clear nights like this when he could just wander the neighborhood, look at the stars and think. What about? "The sort of things you think about after midnight," he murmured to himself.

  
He had to admit that the last year had been a hell of a ride. And prom was coming up in a few months. The last time he had gone, it was with Kale platonically. That was a particularly informative moment in Oz's life. He actually made real friends that night outside just Brian, Amira and Vicky. He now hung out regularly with all of them. Polly, Scott, Liam, Damien, Zoe, Calculester, Miranda, even the Oberlin sisters Vera and... Valerie. Oz smiled to himself a little at that. He had made real progress in a year.  
So why did he still feel like he was hiding something from them?

  
He checked his watch. 12:01 AM. Right on cue, the sort of things you think about after midnight. The question had been gnawing at his brain for over a month now and since Oz didn't sleep, there was plenty of time to contemplate it. Maybe being single was getting to him. Sure, he had friends with benefits but he felt like he was missing out on something really special by not having anyone in his life romantically. That didn't however explain why he felt like a +2 shoe of otherness was about to drop any day.

  
Hmm. The nerdy pop culture references probably didn't help. Oz knew how to tell jokes and funny stories. He just had a really different information intake. Brian, Amira and Vicky generally got his nerdier references if nothing else through sheer osmosis from them all being roommates. Everyone else? Less so. In fact, thinking on it, one of the only cases where his music jokes in particular hit consistently was-

  
As Oz rounded a corner he was watching the sky and didn't see that he bumped into Valerie Oberlin. She recovered first with her characteristic cat smile and customary, "Hey, stranger."

  
"V-Valerie! S-sorry. I was, uh... How are you?" Oz mentally kicked himself for that attempt at a save. To his relief however, Valerie adjusted her scarf and smiled.

  
"I'm out for a walk," Valerie said. "Couldn't sleep. Same for you?"

  
"Oh, uh, I don't... sleep. So I just take long walks at night." Every word of every sentence felt like an ice pick in his brain. Why was he suddenly on edge like this? Well, he knew why. Valerie's opinion mattered to him in a specific way and Oz didn't like the direction it was going in. Valerie was a lot of things he could never be. Getting a crush on her would be fruitless. What could he possibly offer someone like her?

  
"Huh. Walk with me then?" Valerie offered before immediately proceeding to cross the street, pulling Oz in tow by the hand, causing him to blush. Once they were across, Oz noticed his phobias coming out to say hello to the catgirl. She smiled at the sight of them and pet one of them on its tiny head. She giggled a little when the phobia got hearts in its eyes.

  
Oz could feel everything the phobias could, so when Valerie gave the one pets, he could feel that too. He shivered slightly at the touch of her silky fur. She was already moving on and Oz took a couple longer strides to catch up. He was trying to think of something to say when Valerie asked him a question first. "I never got to ask: what are these little guys? They're cute."

  
"They're my phobias," Oz answered. "I mean, n-not phobias that I actually have, like... in a clinical sense? They're symbolic but yeah, they're technically a part of me, but... let me start over."

  
Valerie laughed again. "It's okay, dude. I get what you mean. That's cool though, having all those little guys around."

  
"You think so?" Oz asked. Valerie simply nodded and kept walking. What followed was a comfortable silence. At least until Oz looked at the sky and felt those familiar thoughts coming back. But with them came an idea. Something he knew on some level he should have tried a long time ago. "Hey, Valerie? Can I ask you... w-what might be a stupid question?"

  
Valerie lifted a brow but the smile didn't leave her eyes. "Now I have to hear this. Shoot."

  
"Have you ever felt like..." Was he really doing this? Was he really going to ask Valerie Oberlin if she had ever felt like a fraud? This was a stupid idea. Even stupider was the decision to just commit and finish the sentence. "Have you ever felt like you're not enough? Like, people see a better version of you than you actually are and any day they're going to find out?" There, he said it. He asked his crush if she ever felt like a loser like him. Maybe now that previously mentioned shoe can get around to dropping and he won't have to dread it any longer. Her answer however caught him off guard.

  
"Actually... sometimes, yeah." Valerie's smile had faded and there was sadness in her eyes. For a moment, Oz didn't know what to say.

  
"Really?"

  
"He-llo! Have you _met_ my sister?" Valerie laughed. "I love her to pieces but sometimes it's not easy to stand next to her, you know?" She sighed and looked ahead into the middle distance. "There have been times where it felt like I was in her shadow... I would lie awake in bed and wonder if people were only ever going to see me as Vera's sister."

  
"Valerie... I had no idea..."

  
"It's okay. Vee and I talked about it. It got loud, but we worked it out." Valerie stopped walking and Oz had to abruptly halt as well. She reached out a hand and cupped his cheek, making him blush anew. "Oz, I promise you, you're enough."

Oz reached up to touch her hand, the whole situation starting to feel a little dream-like. "I... I don't-"

"I mean it," Valerie chided him. "Don't talk shit on yourself. You're fun, funny, smart, thoughtful and... as a nice bonus, you're easy on the eyes." Oz blushed even deeper, bringing a smile back Valerie's face before she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

Oz was momentarily speechless. Three phobias on his shoulders were cheering him on at this point and Oz was feeling both thrilled and self-conscious at the same time.

Valerie spoke again as she lowered her hand from his face. "See, the little guys agree. The truth is, everybody is faking it till they make it, Oz. In the end, we make out okay." She said that last sentence in such a way that it sounded less like a declaration and more like an invitation.

Oz really hoped he was reading the signals right because one side of his brain was telling him that if he didn't take a shot now, he'd regret it forever and the other side was telling him that Valerie was too good for him and he should just cut his losses. After midnight the latter voice tended to be the stronger. Right now however, Oz felt an unusual spark of confidence amid the gloom of his depression. The first voice was starting to make a lot more sense. "Valerie..."

They drifted toward each other and met in a kiss that started off tender and gradually became hotter until by the time they came up for air they were practically smoldering. Valerie was the first to speak. "Took you long enough." The feline grin was back on her face. "I've had a crush on you for weeks. I was wondering when you were finally going to make a move."

Oz once again felt a blush bloom across his face. "Weeks?"

"At least a month." Valerie took hold of the lapels of Oz's jacket and pulled him closer to her with an impish glint in her eyes. "And you are going to pay me back with interest for making me wait that long."

"O-oh?"

"Mm-hmm. Let's find somewhere private to work out the details. Your place or mine?"

That night, Oz walked back home with a woman he thought he had no chance with only an hour ago. That nagging fear that he was getting away with something was still there, but it was easier to ignore for now. Sometimes, all you're really looking for is someone to believe in you, to tell you that it's going to be okay. These are the sort of things you think about after midnight.


End file.
